Maverick Jack: The Langford Project
by djenie
Summary: It began in Giza, with the excavation of a mysterious artifact. No one could have predicted the effects of this single discovery.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is a prequel of sorts to "Maverick Jack; The Assassin," and provides background for the events which will be coming up in later stories from the Maverick Jack AR. Please remember that this is an Alternate Reality and historical details will sometimes be different from actual (or TV series) history. **

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! Your opinion will be much appreciated. **

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Giza, April 1934**

Seven-year-old Catherine Langford did not entirely understand what was going on. She'd been confused as she listened to what her father was saying. He was telling her mother that she and Catherine would have to leave Egypt right away. Catherine overheard her parents arguing about it a while ago when she woke up to go out to the privy. She crouched down behind the tent to listen when she heard the raised voices.

"Paul, you have to come with us," her mother was saying, her voice pitched higher than normal, the way it got when she was very upset. "If the Germans are moving to occupy Cairo, then you're in danger, too!"

"I have to make sure the artifact gets to a safe place out of the country, Leilah. That's the most important thing. We have to move it to the coast and across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia. The U.S. still has diplomatic relations with the Saudis, and we can put the artifact on an American ship and steam down through the Mandeb Strait to the Gulf of Aden and on to the Arabian Sea. From there, we'll head for Australia..."

"But _you_ don't have to go with it! Ed Mason can..."

"Yes! I _do_ have to go, darling!" Her father was insistent. "And you and Catherine have to be on that plane to Tripoli tomorrow morning. From there you'll fly to Marseille, then you can take the train to Calais and cross the Channel to England." Paul Langford paused and spoke more gently. "I know you want us to stay together—but we can't. We can't risk taking Catherine along with the artifact, Leilah. If the Germans find out about it, they'll come after us. She's much safer if you take her directly to England. You can stay with Louis and Bella until I contact you. I'll send a cable from Perth."

Her mother was crying openly now. "Paul, please..."

"I can't ask Mason to do this alone, Leilah. You know that. Come here, darling. It'll only be a few months—and we'll be back together..."

Catherine crept away and back into the sleeping tent, where she crawled into her bed and tried not to cry. It terrified her to think of being separated from her father. He was the one who protected them and kept them safe. Tears began to leak from her eyes, and she buried her face in her pillows to muffle her sobs. After a little while, she cried herself to sleep.

Early the next morning, when her mother urged her awake, last night's overheard conversation had faded to the back of Catherine's mind—like a half-remembered dream. Leilah Langford dressed her daughter quickly, and before the sun was even up, the three of them were in a truck, headed for the airstrip west of Cairo. For Catherine's sake, Leilah put her own anxiety aside, and told her the trip that the two of them were about to embark upon was to be a great adventure that Catherine would always remember. That flight, first across the sands of North Africa, and then over the azure water of the Mediterranean, was the beginning of a love of flying that endured for the rest of Catherine's life.

"Why isn't Father coming with us?" Catherine asked as she and her mother boarded the plane that would take them the first leg of their journey.

"Because he's going to take the artifact home, sweetheart," Leilah told her.

"You mean the big stone ring?"

"That's right."

"Oh. It wouldn't fit on the airplane, would it?"

"No," Leilah agreed. "Your father has to take it by ship."

"Well, I'm glad he's bringing it," Catherine said.

"Why's that, darling?"

"Because we haven't figured out what it does yet. And this way we can."

***X*X*X* **


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter, and some of those following, contain a very abbreviated overview of the World War II historical situation in the 1930s and early 1940s, ****according to this Alternate Reality.**** Many of the events mentioned actually occurred, though not necessarily at the time I set them. **

**X*X*X*X**

**April, 1934 - October, 1935**

It was more than eighteen months before Catherine and her mother were reunited with Catherine's father.

Paul Langford was able to get the stone ring out of Egypt and onto an American ship bound for Australia, just as he had hoped. After seven weeks at sea, the ship docked in Perth, in June, 1934, where Langford contacted the American Consulate and requested the U.S. government's assistance. With war looming in both Europe and the Pacific, he attempted to convince the government representative that his archeological find might be a useful source of research, hinting that it might even be some kind of weapon.

Before anything could be settled, however, Japan's army moved across the border from Manchuria and invaded China, and the entire South Pacific was put on alert. Australia and New Zealand mobilized, as there was fear that Japan's next targets would be the Phillipines and Indonesia. The only ships permitted to sail from Australia were military. The United States placed a moratorium on all travel to and from Southern Pacific ports.

Dr. Langford, Dr. Mason and the artifact were stranded.

Leilah and Catherine Langford made it safely to England and went to London to stay with Leilah's brother and his wife, Louis and Bella Craig. They spent May and June with the Craigs, but as Mid-Summer approached, Leilah made the decision to take passage to New York before the dangerous signs of war in Europe could worsen.

On July 12, 1934, Leilah and Catherine boarded the French liner Normandie and sailed for New York. Leilah's caution was proven correct within a few weeks as Germany occupied Austria early in August, and invaded Poland in September sending troops rapidly toward Warsaw.

In response to this, Britain, France, Australia, Canada and New Zealand declared war on Germany.

Shortly afterward, the U.S. declared its neutrality and Transatlantic travel by Americans was curtailed by US authorities. The Normandie, the ship Leilah and Catherine had sailed on, once again in New York after another transatlantic crossing, was seized by the Americans, and refused permission to return to Europe.

Eight months later, in April, 1935, the German Army invaded France.

Leilah took Catherine and moved to their former home not far from Princeton University, in the New Jersey city of the same name. There they stayed, in a neighborhood of people that Leilah knew, until mid September, 1935, when Leilah received a letter from her husband, letting her know that he and the artifact were finally in the United States, having docked in San Francisco on the 19th, and were being transported to an Army base in North Dakota. Langford made arrangements for his family to be moved to Camp Wilder, ND, within a few weeks.

**Camp Wilder, ND, October, 1935**

"Have you figured out how it works yet, Papa?"

Catherine and her father were standing in the underground bunker beneath U.S. Army Camp Nathan Wilder, in the room where the artifact was being set up carefully by the Army Corps of Engineers. They were five levels below the ground, and the ceiling above them was open to the surface, allowing the Ring to be lowered into place by a huge crane. Paul Langford watched nervously, fearful that the massive object might slip and be damaged. The bottom edge of the Ring was now below the ceiling of this level, and moving slowly downward. He placed a hand on Catherine's shoulder, and moved them a few more steps back.

"No, darling," he answered absently. "I haven't had the opportunity to examine it or run tests. It was kept a secret, and hidden away on the ship for the entire time since it left Egypt." He glanced at her quickly. "You know you must never talk about the artifact, don't you? Only with the people who are authorized to work here in the labs."

She nodded. "Yes, Papa."

"Not with any of the military personnel, or with your friends."

"I know, Papa," she said with a sigh. _What friends? There were no other children here._ Of course, she was accustomed to keeping company only with grown-ups. There were seldom children on any of the excavations where her parents had lived since she was born.

By now the Ring was only about six feet above the platform that had been built to hold it. Ropes attached to each side of the ring were held taut by half a dozen uniformed men on the ground around the platform. Catherine watched with wide-open eyes as it was slowly lowered, guided unerringly into place by the soldiers.

**Camp Wilder, ND - March, 1938**

Dr. Langford paused as his eyes fell on his daughter sitting at the dining table of their apartment. She was bent forward over something, a pencil held tightly in her hand. All around her were scattered pieces of paper with drawings and numbers. She was scribbling on one of them, so engrossed she did not notice her father there until he spoke.

"Catherine, what are you doing?"

"Oh!" She jumped, startled. "Papa! I didn't hear you come in..."

"I said, what are you doing?" He had recognized many of the drawings spread around her. She had sketched the symbols from the Ring.

She looked down at the various sheets of paper, and felt her face redden with embarrassment. "There are thirty-nine symbols on the Ring, Papa. And nine chevrons. That has to mean something."

"Yes? Go on."

"I was trying to figure out how many different combinations of nine symbols you could make with the thirty-nine," she finished rapidly—and then sat with her eyes down, waiting for him to admonish her.

Paul Langford's eyebrows went up. "What made you think to try and do that, Catherine?"

She looked up, surprised that he was encouraging her. "Uh... well, it looks kind of like... like a lock. A combination lock! Like on a safe! And nine chevrons means nine symbols in the combination! Or the way to unlock it... whatever it is..." Her words tailed off, and she bit her lip. "But that would mean..."

"What would that mean?" he asked.

"Well... the lock... the lock would have to turn, somehow... to choose the symbols..."

Paul Langford was speechless. He and his science team had spent more than two years studying the Ring, and had only recently realized that the inner ring did indeed turn, if enough power was fed to the artifact. The material it was made of seemed capable of absorbing massive amounts of power, so that they had only been able to get two or three turns before the generators overloaded. He was about to contact the military authorities to try and persuade them to provide him with larger generators. So Catherine's conclusion that the inner ring must move was surprising.

But most shocking was her comparison of the Ring with a lock, because sometimes when the rotation stopped, the chevron at the top of the Ring would light up, and snap in place around a symbol. He and Dr. Mason had been brainstorming the reasons that might be behind this. And his twelve-year-old daughter had arrived at the same conclusion they had, without having seen the Ring rotate!

**Camp Wilder, ND – August, 1938**

Japan occupied China's capitol in February, 1936, and China surrendered. Six months later the Japanese forces moved into Indonesia, and that country and the Philippines both surrendered. Since then the Japanese had been gathering strength for what was believed would be a campaign against Australia and New Zealand.

The German Army now occupied almost the whole of central Europe, and was waging a brutal bombing campaign against Britain. France had finally fallen to the Germans early this year, and was now fully occupied save a few southwestern provinces on the Spanish border, which resistance forces still managed to hold.

The American Congress still resisted involvement in the war, therefore the United States had maintained its neutrality for the past four years. It was becoming more and more clear that the U.S. must be drawn into the conflict, however, and as a result the pressure had increased on Paul Langford to make some progress with his research on the artifact. He had had free rein ever since the Ring arrived in America, but at the end of August, 1938, a military commander by the name of General Edwin Foster was appointed to oversee the research. The Army's presence at Camp Wilder was increased considerably.

**Sunday, April 14, 1940**

At 7:48 a.m. local time, Japanese forces made a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

On Monday, April 16th, the United States declared war on Japan, Germany and all of the Axis member countries. The American Anti-Involvement Movement ceased to exist.

** *X*X*X***

**Yes, I skewed the dates and numbers around. And some of the events did not happen at all. Things are a little off in this Reality.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Egan, North Dakota, June 1942**

Dr. Ernest Jackson Littlefield climbed down from the train at the small station in Egan, North Dakota, and looked around him. There was very little to see, at least from this perspective. Judging by what he'd observed from the train window ever since passing through Minneapolis, there wasn't much to see anywhere around here! There were a few houses scattered about. One street ran perpendicular to the train tracks and disappeared beyond the station. EJ picked up his two cases and walked down the platform toward the end of the building.

"You Dr. Littlefield?" a voice said.

EJ stopped. A young man—even younger than himself, and that was saying something, as he was only twenty-two—had stepped out of the station door.

"That's right," he replied.

"Hey," the kid said, coming forward. He paused a few feet away and looked the other man over. "You're awful young to be a doctor."

EJ felt himself reddening. You'd think he'd be used to that by now! "And who are you?"

"I'm Jerry Mason. I'm your ride out to Camp Wilder." The kid stuck out his hand, and EJ put down one of the cases and shook it.

"Are you Dr. Edward Mason's... what? His son?"

"That's me." Jerry picked up the case and started across the platform. "The truck's this way."

EJ followed him around the corner. There, finally, was the town. A short, straight main street. He counted the buildings... six... eight, nine. And a few more houses beyond that. In the distance there was only flat, empty prairie and a massive amount of sky.

The truck was an eight or ten year old Chevrolet pick-up that looked very well-used. Jerry tossed the case into the back and EJ set the one he was holding beside it. They climbed in and Jerry started the engine. It sounded good, EJ noticed, despite its age and appearance. Someone knew their automobile engines.

"Your truck?" he asked.

"Nah. It belongs to the base."

"Sounds nice and smooth. Somebody takes good care of the motor."

Jerry grinned. "That'd be me."

He put the truck in gear and they drove away, straight down the main street of the town. EJ saw a hardware, a grocery, a small restaurant. They came to an intersection, and Jerry turned north. Almost instantly, they were out of town. Civilization vanished and ahead of them was a perfectly straight dirt road with nothing but flat landscape all around.

"My God," EJ muttered as he gazed around him.

"It gets even worse," Jerry said cheerfully.

"How far is it to the base?"

"About a two hour drive," Jerry said. "Do they call you Ernie?"

"My friends call me EJ—my initials," Ernest replied. "Feel free."

"Thanks, EJ."

They talked as they drove. EJ found out that Jerry was seventeen—even younger than he'd thought—and would finish high school soon. He also worked doing vehicle maintenance at the facility where they were bound. "In six months I'll be eighteen and the draft'll get me," Jerry said. "I'd go ahead and join up next month when I'm done with school but my pop won't sign the papers. I don't see why not! They'll take me in November anyway."

"He's just trying to keep you safe as long as possible. The war might be over by then."

"That's what my dad says. But it's not gonna happen."

"Sadly, I think you're right," EJ agreed.

"How come they didn't draft you? You look healthy enough."

"They have a special program at the university where I was enrolled."

"Really?"

"Yes. Anybody in chemistry, physics or any other hard science with a high enough grade point gets exempt, as long as they agree to work for the government for five years, or the duration of the war."

"So what are you?"

"Chemical engineer. That's my doctorate. I also have master's degrees in archeology and linguists."

"My dad's an archeologist."

"Yes. That's how I met Dr. Mason—I was in one of his seminars at Princeton last summer."

Jerry was quiet for a while. The road was dusty, and they had shut the windows, which made it unpleasantly close in the cab. They'd passed a few cars at the start of the trip, but there had been nothing for the past half hour.

"How much longer do you think the war will last?" Jerry asked eventually. His tone was serious and concerned.

"Another three or four years, I'm afraid," EJ said, equally serious. "Neither side is making much headway right now. The Germans have got a solid hold in Europe, but they've gone about as far as they can. America and England have them stopped at the Channel. On the east they're almost on the Soviet border. And focus seems to be shifting North Africa. If they send too many divisions there it'll leave both of their front lines vulnerable. The Allies haven't made much progress either. The invasion attempt last year was a spectacular failure. Right now it looks like a stand-off."

"What about the Pacific war?"

"Australia and New Zealand are doing a hell of a job holding the Japanese back. Of course we have a lot of men and ships out there, too. The Pacific theater's so big it's hard to cover everything, though. It's not as easy to read as Europe."

"You wouldn't think a little place like Japan could raise such a big army," Jerry commented.

"Well, the Korean Peninsula's been Japanese for over a century. Plus they annexed those five eastern Manchurian provinces sixty years ago. The people there are mostly Japanese now. That's a pretty big population to draw from."

"Yeah." Jerry conceded, glancing over at his passenger. "Do you think we'll win?"

"I hope so. I hate to consider the consequences if we don't."

"Yeah," Jerry said again.

"Tell me about Camp Wilder," EJ said, changing the subject.

"The important part of it is underground, and I'm not allowed in there. The labs and stuff are all down there. Up top there's offices and barracks for the Army, and apartments for the rest of us. There's the armory, the maintenance buildings and the motor pool. The commissary and the sick bay and the PX. There's a gym that's also a movie house, and whatever else you want it to be. Other than that it's just a fenced off hunk of prairie."

"How many Army personnel?"

"It varies. Right now around a hundred and twenty."

"And civilians?"

"Fifty or sixty."

"What does the Army do?"

"Mostly they're there to guard Dr. Langford's lab. But they also hold weapons' training. There's a big range—it's not just for side arms and rifles, but also for long-range stuff. Oh, there's an airstrip, too, but it isn't used for much except moving troops in and out."

"Any military families?"

"Nope."

"Where do you go to school?"

"We take correspondence courses out of Bismarck. The closest actual school is in Rockland, which is another fifteen miles or so beyond Egan. Too far to go every day. There's only a few of us kids."

It was mid-afternoon when they reached the outer gate of the base. Jerry stopped at the guardhouse and showed his ID. The guard asked for EJ's ID and he showed him his passport, which he'd been instructed to bring.

A couple hundred yards further on they were stopped at a second gate. This time Jerry shut off the engine and turned to EJ. "Standard operating procedure. They have to search us. They'll want you to open your bags."

"Oh. Okay."

The search was quick and thorough. The interior of the truck and under the hood were also checked. The soldiers were all very polite.

"That happens every time we go in or out," Jerry explained as they started up again. "We can't take any notes or photos out. Or books. There's a whole list of stuff we can't bring in."

"I see."

They were nearing a group of buildings. There were a dozen or so; they all looked pretty much alike, low and long, and painted a kind of tan color. Jerry pointed out the PX and the gym. Further along he identified apartment buildings. A teen-age girl was walking along the road and Jerry slowed and rolled down his window.

"Hey, Cathy! 'Stagecoach' is playin' tonight! Wanna go?"

She gave him a sidewise look. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Jerry Mason! And don't call me Cathy!"

Jerry just laughed. "See you there!" he called as he drove on.

"Your girlfriend?" Ernest asked.

"Nah. That's Dr. Langford's daughter, Catherine. She's barely sixteen. Just a kid. I like to tease her."

EJ hid his smirk at the 'just a kid' comment.

At the duty office, EJ was given a non-disclosure agreement which had had to sign in the presence of two officers. Next he received a military-issue ID card to pin to his shirt whenever he was on base or coming and going. The current duty officer was a young captain named Glen Davis. "You'll also get a project ID from Dr. Langford, which will allow you access to the secure part of the facility. I'll let him know that you've arrived. Welcome to Project Giza, Dr. Littlefield."

Davis handed over EJ's housing assignment and keys, and Jerry drove him to one of the apartment buildings, and carried in one of the cases for him.

"If you'd like a tour of the base, just let me know," Jerry said. "You can call the duty office. It's extension 75. They'll find me."

"Thanks, Jerry," EJ grinned. "I've been on a train for 36 hours. I think I need a shower right now."

"Good enough. I'll come by and take you to the cafeteria later. See ya!" Jerry saluted sloppily and bounded down the steps and back to the truck.

EJ looked around his new home. The furnished apartment was small; a combination living room and kitchen, one bedroom and a bath. The furniture was sparse and simple. In the kitchen cupboards he found an assortment of cooking utensils, pots and pans, and dishes. Other than maybe breakfast cereal and bread and peanut butter, he didn't plan to keep much food. He didn't really know how to cook. The cafeteria would do for meals.

He checked the bathroom and was happy to see that there was a shower. Carrying his bags into the bedroom, he opened them on the bed. It only took a little while to shake out and hang up his few shirts and trousers, and store his other clothes in the drawers of the single bureau.

The shower was refreshing, and just the thought of getting into clean clothes was great! EJ glanced at the pile of dirty things on the bedroom chair. He'd have to ask about laundry facilities. He stepped into a pair of trousers, and was just slipping on a shirt when there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was Jerry returning already, he yelled, "I'll be right there!"

He finished buttoning up the shirt, and tucking it in quickly he headed for the front door. He opened it, expecting to see Jerry's cheery grin, and was surprised to find himself face to face with the teen-aged girl they had passed on the way in.

Catherine hadn't been especially happy to be sent on this errand by her mother, to invite the new staff member to their apartment for dinner tonight. Another grey-haired old scientist, no doubt! Her father had been pleased to have Dr. Littlefield join the project. His assistant, Dr. Mason, had been very enthusiastic about the new man's qualifications—it seemed they'd met at Princeton last year when Mason had done a guest professorship for six weeks.

When she heard the shout from inside, she waited on the top step and in a few moments heard footsteps approaching the door.

The handsome young man standing there was a complete surprise. He was only a few inches taller than she—Catherine was a tall girl, and height was one of the first things she noticed about a man. This man was very good looking, however, which more than made up for any lack of height! His dark brown hair stood up wetly in all directions at the moment, and he was gazing at her with deep blue eyes that appeared as startled as hers must have. He had on a pair of khaki trousers, and a blue shirt. He was barefoot.

For a moment they stared at each other.

EJ felt himself blushing—he really needed to learn how to control that reaction! "Miss Langford!" he said. "My apologies. I thought you were Jerry Mason. He said he'd come back and take me to the commissary." He stepped back. "Please come in."

She was one of the prettiest girls EJ had ever seen. She had huge dark hazel eyes, framed by long lashes. Her hair was a deep auburn color, and fell in a shiny bob to her shoulders. Her face could have decorated a movie poster, he thought, instantly captivated by the smooth fair skin and full red lips. Too much lipstick for a girl of sixteen, part of his mind said, but, _man_ did it look good!

She walked a few steps into the living room. "You're Dr. Littlefield?"

He grinned. "That's me. I know—I'm not what anybody expects. Way too young and all that." He blushed again. "Sorry. What can I do for you, Miss Langford?"

"Um... my mother sent me. To invite you to dinner tonight—if you haven't already made plans." She was staring at the way his tousled hair made him appear slightly... devilish. Those blue eyes—oh, so blue! And he obviously hadn't shaved today. Or maybe even the day before. She was not used to seeing men with the scruffiness of neglected whiskers. It made her a bit breathless.

"That's very kind of your mother. I'd be delighted to come to dinner." His smile was warm. "Thank you. Is there anything I can bring?" He laughed then. "Of course I wouldn't know where to get it if there were."

He had a really nice laugh, deep and genuine. It occupied her attention so that it was a second before she responded to his comment. "Oh, no. That's not necessary. I mean... you've just arrived, after all. How would you know..." She paused, forgetting what she should say next.

"Thank you," he repeated. "Um..."

Catherine recovered somewhat as he appeared to be confused. "We're in building four. That's two buildings over." She stepped back to the open door and pointed. "Apartment number one, ground floor. Seven o'clock."

"Thank you, Miss Langford. I'll be there. Please tell Mrs. Langford how much I appreciate the invitation..."

They stood for another few beats, staring at each other. Catherine recovered first, and turned toward the door. "We'll...uh...we'll see you at seven then..."

"Yes, thanks..."

And then she was gone in a whirl of skirts and girlish exuberance. He watched her run down the steps and hurry away in the direction of her building.

A short distance down the walk, she looked back at him and smiled.

EJ closed the door, and stood against it for a moment. _Get a grip, EJ! She's only sixteen!_

**XXXX**

**I based my description of Catherine on Viveca Lindfors, who played Catherine in the original Stargate movie, and whose picture I used as the title image for this story. The description of EJ is based on Paul McGillion, who played young Ernest in the episode 'The Torment of Tantalus.' **


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